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Bolivian police end rebellion after pay deal reached

Carlos Quiroga, LA PAZ |
Wed Jun 27

(Reuters) -
Bolivia's police ended a violent mutiny and went back to work on
Wednesday after reaching an accord with government ministers and the
police leadership on pay and disciplinary rules, satisfying
lower-ranking officers who had rejected a previous deal.

Dozens of police officers were
hurt and several police stations were destroyed in the five-day
rebellion in the natural gas-exporting South American country that has a
history of coups and violent conflicts.

It was the latest in a string of conflicts testing leftist President Evo Morales, who is midway through a second five-year term.

The
agreement raises the minimum wage for the country's roughly 32,000
police officers to about $300 a month and scraps tough new disciplinary
rules until an alternative scheme can be approved with the participation
of lower-ranking officers.

The
deal overrode an earlier accord signed on Sunday that many rank-and-file
officers shunned, continuing their occupation of most police barracks
nationwide.

"With this, the mutiny
is over. The final accord, which was reviewed with all our members, is
signed. ... Police services will return to normal," said officer Esther
Corzon, one of the representatives of the protesting police who signed
the deal.

Morales, who often blames
social protests on political rivals, had accused the rebel police of
trying to destabilize Bolivia. He vowed to avoid a repeat of a police
protest in 2003 that was quashed by the military, causing dozens of
deaths.

The respite did not last
long, however. A group of indigenous activists marching toward La Paz
for the past two months entered the city later on Wednesday, clashing
briefly with anti-riot place.

They
are protesting against a plan to build a road through the Amazon forest.
The movement has lost some steam since a similar march took place last
year, shaking Morales' government and prompting him to halt the project.

Some
local Morales supporters staged a counter-march to defend the
president, who does not plan to meet the demonstrators. They said they
would remain in the highland city until the government met their
demands.

Earlier this month,
clashes between rival miners broke out at a Bolivian tin and zinc mine
owned by global commodities giant Glencore after several weeks of
protests.

Morales responded by
having the state take control of the mine's operations. This cooled
tempers domestically but upset Glencore due to a lack of compensation.